If Crazy Equals Genius
by Kuraudiachan
Summary: A cold cackle. A slender figure dancing to swing. The building in front of them on fire. Everyone running around, screaming in panic and then she waltzes in, wearing a pink dress and firing Pow-Pow greedily. One shot.


As some of you might have noticed, this is named after the Panic! At the Disco song "Crazy = Genius". I was inspired by that song and I strongly recommend you listen to it while reading this, I think I'll get you in the mood better. I do not own the song or the characters.

Try and see how many things you find in my story that are related to the song. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

It wouldn't be abnormal to summon an official Institute meeting outside said Institute at midnight, would it now?

All the champions gathered around Poppy, Kayle, Garen, Caitlyn and Jayce, who seemed almost grim, standing there on an improvised stage, badly illuminated by the torches that had been set up.

"We have an announcement to make." Poppy cleared her voice and the whole crowd went silent. It didn't last long as suddenly there was a gust of wind and the torches burned out quickly, making everyone start whispering, all at once.

Two lights turned on, the sound alarming mostly everyone, and forcing them to watch what they were meant to illuminate.

A tightrope was now displayed from somewhere in the distance until an open window of one of the Institute's stone towers. A figure appeared on it, dangling itself precariously and laughing insanely all the while.

The crowd gasped in horror as the madman hopped back on the tightrope and took his hat off, making a weird bow to his awaiting public. He laughed his signature cackle and showed them his wide grin.

"Shaco!" Cried Caitlyn in alarm.

"What's he doing…!?" Garen was interrupted by Vi, who came up on stage and started wagging her gauntlets at the jester, trying to force him to get down.

"For my next trick…" The clown started laughing again, maliciously, before taking something out from his hat, and pausing, obviously for a dramatic effect. "I'll make myself disappear!"

He literally went up in flames, to the horror of everyone watching. He was engulfed by them so quickly it took the champions a few seconds to realise he had set himself on fire, cackling maniacally while doing so.

The tightrope he had been standing on burned immediately and his still in flames body started falling down. A faint shriek was heard before the loud thud that soon followed. The crowd erupted into a blissful harmony of screams as a cloud of orange smoke fogged everyone's vision.

As the fog slowly cleared, the people noticed that Shaco was gone, which, in a way, made them nervous at the same time as glad. It wasn't long before they started hearing the sound of swing music, and a very characteristic cackle. It didn't help that it was accompanied by maniacal laughter.

Jinx waltzed into the scene at the rhythm of the music, her pink dress moving gracefully with the wind and a malevolent grin on her face as she got Pow-Pow out of her violin case.

"Over here!" She screamed, without ceasing the laughter. The first head that turned was Vi's, who shot her an ice cold glance.

"Jinx!" She sneered, the look of utter hatred she usually got when she looked at her rival returning to her features.

"The one and only!" The Loose Cannon gave no other warning and starting shooting the champions randomly, her over the top laughter managing to be louder than the hysterical screams emanating from the victims.

Vi barked at Garen to start organising the mess, making sure the wounded were properly treated and everyone got evacuated as soon as possible. Caitlyn got on her feet and shared a glance with her partner; they were going to stop that delinquent once and for all.

There was a giant cracking sound and fire erupted on both sides of Jinx, making her face look more like a homicidal maniac than before. A wall of orange smoke appeared and Shaco walked in, twiddling a dagger in one hand and laughing to the point of nearly chocking.

"You're lucky I am really good at making great entrances." He whispered to the teenager, and smirked, turning to his awaiting audience. "Time to enlighten you with my comical genius!"

He thrust his dagger into someone's gut and snickered in twisted glee.

"See? Doubled over with _laughter_!"

Poppy held on to her hammer, grinding her teeth in annoyance. She turned to the spot where the jester would've actually fallen if it hadn't all been an act, or an illusion, or whatever it had been. She realised just how short it had all been and sighed in exhaustion. She would never stop being the hero. She screamed in frustration as she ran into the commotion, rotating her giant weapon in anticipation.

Two shots from Pow-Pow hit the yordle, one in her chest, the other right in her head. The last thing she saw was red, before falling to the ground, dropping the hammer on top of herself accidentally. Caitlyn, who'd been busy setting up her own weapon, glanced at the dead yordle and gripped her weapon tightly, trying to control the rage she felt. She tried to calm down and take a deep breath, to set her mind on stopping Jinx. She kneeled down on one knee and decided to take aim when she felt a dagger at her neck and cold hands touch her cheek.

"Want to hear a joke?" A voice cackled in her ear, and she immediately froze, dropping her gun. She tried to turn her head to look at Vi, who was screaming her name, but could only see her from the corner of her eye as the pink haired woman approached her and held her hand as she realised those were the last moments of her life.

She'd been shot in the chest at the same time as something sharp got lodged in her stomach. She spat blood and fell into Vi's arms, who was trying to support her weight, now that Shaco was nowhere to be seen.

"Cupcake! Cupcake! Don't you die!" The Piltover enforcer held on to her, watching the life drown from her features, screaming and crying as she couldn't do anything to prevent it. "DON'T YOU FUCKING DIE ON ME!"

Caitlyn did her best to smile at her, a last farewell gesture forming on her lips before she took her last wheeze of breath and died. Vi slowly and gently rested her body on the damp earth, and quietly got up, setting her gaze to unforgivable kill mode. She localised Jinx, who was watching her intently, a smirk clearly spread on her face.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Vi screamed at her in utter rage, and made her way past the people that were trying to run away or were too petrified to move. She kicked away dead bodies as she made her way to her target, slowly but steadily.

"You'll have to catch me first!" The Loose Cannon almost sang, starting to sprint in a different direction, her dress flowing behind her, and shots coming from all places. One hit Vi's armour, but she paid it no heed. She was going to kill Jinx, even if it meant she had to die as well. It's not like she cared anyway, now that she didn't have Caitlyn.

Watching his accomplice dart around made Shaco eager to continue with the massacre. There were very few people around, much to his dismay. Everyone had either hidden or run away. The few that were left behind seemed to be tending to injured people or were wounded themselves.

The jester smiled again, walking over to the largest clump of people that was around. The swing music could be heard louder and louder, which only excited Shaco more.

A small cackle escaped his lips as his dagger landed in the throat of a champion, who spurted blood before falling limply to the ground. Shrieks were then heard, and the madman inhaled deeply, taking in how lovely their desperate voices sounded. He had his two daggers in two different champions in a matter of seconds, but he was unable to retrieve them. The other person, the only one that was still alive, grabbed him by the throat and made him glare into his dark eyes.

Darius was strong, and Shaco knew it wouldn't take much force from the Noxian brute to end his life quickly. The only response the clown could master was bursting into laughter, more hoarse than sincere.

Lucky for him, Jinx ran quickly by his side and shot the General in his arm, making him loose the grip on the jester, who immediately disappeared into a daze of dagger, nearly all of them lodging themselves into Darius' armour. He grunted, and turned to watch the teenage girl smirk at him.

"Vi's for me, Shaco!" She chanted, and came to a quick halt. She was fumbling with something in her violin case and the Noxian turned his head to search for the pink haired woman. She was still trying to catch Jinx, even though she had a wound in her side that was bleeding badly. She was panting loudly, and she looked exhausted, and in pain.

The General sighed, irritated. Never in his life had he ever helped that woman, but it seemed almost fair, or at least, something he ought to do. He was human after all. He turned to her and walked over until he reached her, then, picked her up before she even started protesting. He hauled her arm over his shoulder.

They were both quiet, as she had no breath to ask why he was helping her and he didn't want to give explanations. The man started dragging her, as she rested most of her weight on him.

"You here for revenge or something?" He asked. He wasn't stupid. If she was this badly hurt and still set on going after her, there must be a good reason behind it all.

Vi closed her eyes in pain, and nodded quietly. She tried to whisper "Caitlyn", but she wasn't sure what she said. He nodded in understanding anyway, so she must have made it clear enough.

"Hey, Vi!" Came Jinx's voice from in front of them. They were both startled and it took them a brief second to look at the young girl. She was smirking in anticipation, her brow furrowed in tension. "Catch!"

It wasn't a good day for Darius. It'd been very tiring and exhausting, so he had to use that pitiful excuse to cover up for the fact that he didn't even try to dodge the girl's Super Mega Death Rocket, which hit them both in the chest and sent them flying backwards. The general groaned in pain and tried to twist his head to check on Vi, but his eyes were closed shut and he was unable to open them again.

He wasn't sure how long it took Jinx to walk over to where the both of them lay, but as soon he heard her laugh to his right, it made him uneasy.

The Loose Cannon prodded the Piltover Enforcer with her foot gently. The woman rolled over limply and coughed up blood.

"Wow, you're a tough nut to crack." The Zaun girl muttered to herself, pulling Pow-Pow out again. She started shooting Vi repeatedly, as if she hadn't already killed her with the first shot. Darius managed to open his eyes then, and watched in horror as Jinx maliciously punctured wholes into the other's body. He was about to get up to stop it when he noticed something heavy had plonked itself on him. He gingerly turned his head, which was pounding with the force of the blow and gasped when he saw Shaco staring right at him, licking his dagger with that scary smirk of his.

"I have a joke for you." The jester croaked, his eyes shining. " _You_ might appreciate the punch line." The weapon that had just been toyed with was stuffed in between the General's eyebrows, before the clown got up and removed the dirt from his clothes.

The partners in crime smiled at each other and Jinx lifted a hand to get a high-five from the other.

"That went better than expected!" She smiled, looking at the mess, admiring her dirty work. "We caused mass hysteria, alright!"

There were over thirty bodies all spread out on the Institute's lawn, blood and mud all over the place, even faint traces of the fire could still be seen. While Jinx jumped up and down and went all hyper inspecting her work of art, Shaco stared at the view from afar, juggling his daggers and chuckling to himself.

"A good night indeed." He smiled, pleased with his comical performance. And that of his partner, as well.

When the girl returned, they both left the grounds and the music finally stopped playing.

* * *

Jinx opened her eyes and smiled. It had been a very long time since she'd had such a good dream. She got up and stretched, yawning while doing so. She jumped off the bed and got dressed as quickly as possible. She fumbled around with Fishbones – she wasn't sure if she should make it tag along too – left her room and ran down the hall as fast as she could.

On the way, she jolted past Vi, who was drinking coffee and in a very bad mood (someone's not a morning person!). The Enforcer's beverage ended all over her, and when she had time to react all she could see were two long blue plats turning around the corner.

"HEY! NO RUNNING IN THE HALL!" She screamed, but it was futile; Jinx was already long gone. She sighed and pretended that little encounter hadn't happened: she was too tired to run after that maniac.

The Zaun girl made it to her destination in under two minutes. She stopped at the door to catch her breath, then started pummelling it enthusiastically. When there was no answer, she forced her way in, ignoring the "Do not enter" and "Beware" warning signs pinned on the door now behind her.

A jack-in-the-box opened automatically, making her jump and raise Pow-Pow defensively. A figure crept out behind her, and she heard him chuckle against her ear.

"Care to tell me why you're here?" Shaco whispered.

"I've had the best idea EVER!"


End file.
